After the Republican Convention on July 21, 2016, the party nominated Donald Trump as its nominee for President of the United States. The Democratic Convention one week late on July 28, 2016 nominated Hilary Clinton after she stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders. Clinton became the odds on favorite to win the Presidency. All of the main stream media just knew that Donald Trump could never beat her in the general election in November. Another group who just knew that Hillary was a shoe in for the Presidency was all of the Obama appointees who were foaming at the mouth with the thought of eight more years in their jobs. These appointees were so confident that they began committing crimes, crimes that they knew would never be exposed with Hillary in the White House. Valarie Jarrett, Susan Rice and Samantha Powers were unmasking names from the Trump organization. In the meantime, FBI director James Comey and Andrew McCabe along with Loretta Lynch were using the fake Steele dossier to wiretap the Trump campaign. The plan was that after Clinton assumed her seat as President, they were going to skewer Trump and the Republican Party as Russian operatives. The only problem with their scheme was the impossible, a Trump win and a Republican in control of the executive. Thank God for the American electorate. Otherwise we would have never found out about the depths to which Hilary Clinton and her cronies can stoop. One final point. Hillary is the criminal, not Bill. Bill used his political positions to satisfy his sexual addition. He was not a criminal. On the other hand, Hillary began her criminal career at the Rose Law Firm in Arkansas and has not let up since. Funny how everything she touches becomes infected.

It is amazing to see how the Bishop of Rome, our Pope Francis, is about to cave to a communist regime. There currently exist a spat between the Vatican and the government of China about who retains the right to appoint Catholic bishops in China. This fight has existed throughout the centuries between the various kings of Europe and the Vatican. In the end, just know that the Vatican won that fight. So let’s look even further back in history. Remember when Jesus sent out his seventy two disciples to announce the coming of the Kingdom. These seventy two all became bishops in the Catholic Church. And the apostles including mostly Paul, Peter and John appointed many bishops in the growing Church. Most Catholic priests and bishops can trace their anointing from the original bishops of the Church. The church always must appoint its bishops through the power of the Holy Spirit. If Pope Francis capitulates to these unholy demands of the atheist President Xi of China, I am afraid that no tradition will remain sacred within the Catholic Church. Which other countries shall demand the power to appoint their bishops- Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, and South Africa? If the bishops go, so goes the Church. Next up gay marriage and Eucharist for mortal sinners. God have mercy on his soul, our confused Pope.

But for my master, I do the bidding of God. Sometimes I worry that my master is the devil. I cannot banish sin completely from my life. I want to do what is good but sin always seems to hang around. I do things, I say things and I think of things that are ungodly when I am in the privacy of my own consciousness. I am depraved. Am I destined for hell and do I believe in a false hope of salvation? I thought I was transformed by my conversion but I have drifted back to some old habits. Why does not this transformation take hold and become permanent? Why does the Holy Spirit come and go? I cannot find the answer even though wisdom has granted me her insights. I vacillate between the darkness and the light. God, please help me overcome this darkness. I see so much good in this world but I wonder if these good men also fight against the darkness as I do? Am I predestined for eternal damnation? Are some men predestined for eternal salvation? I cannot do the good that I want. Something keeps holding me back. Who is my master? Jesus is. Even though I fight against the devil, can I ever banish him completely from my life? Is good works the answer?

Current control of the House and Senate gains nothing for the Republican Party because of the filibuster rule in the Senate. A form of the filibuster rule has been used in Congress since the founding of our country but its current practical use, which stops votes on legislation in the Senate, began in the 1970s. The original rule required actual speeches on the floor of the Senate. The rule has now morphed into a 60 vote requirement to end debate and proceed to a vote. In 2013, the Democrats used the nuclear option to eliminate the use of the filibuster on executive appointments and appointments to district courts and courts of appeal. In 2017 the Republicans eliminated the use of the filibuster for Supreme Court justices. There exists no such rule in the House of Representatives. With their current majority, the Republicans get things done in the House. The House only needs 50% of the vote plus one to get bills passed. The House under Republican control approved all 12 appropriations bills for the federal government before the beginning of the 2017-2018 fiscal budget year began. The appropriations bills were sent to the Senate and have basically died there because the Democrats, led by Schumer, have filibustered the bills. The Republicans only have 52 votes in the Senate out of a total of 100 votes, eight shy of the 60 votes needed to end debate because of the filibuster rule. So the Republicans have 50% of votes plus one, but still cannot move forward with legislation because the Democrats use the filibuster rule to stall, delay and interrupt legislation. The public gets discontent, giving Congress an approval rating around 20% because they think Congress will not act. The truth is that the Democrats are using this rule to create this negative viewpoint by a gullible public. The rule is a constant obstacle which prevents the Peoples work in the Senate from getting done day after day. Why is that? Either the public is ill informed or they just do not wish to become informed. Voting citizen have given the Republicans a current majority in the Senate. That should mean that legislation should be passed. But nothing happens in the Senate. Within this current two-year session of Congress since President Trump has been elected, the Republicans could have balanced the budget, ended Obamacare and fixed immigration. Instead we get obstruction from the Democrats. If the Republicans lose either the House, the Senate or both in the 2018 elections, a great opportunity will have been squandered. Trump will become a lame duck and will have to legislate through executive order. These inactions do not represent a true democracy. We must stand up and demand McConnell discard the filibuster rule or we should revolt and install a parliamentary system of governance.

​President Trump, You are doing a wonderful job, despite what the entrenched liberal media espouses as "fake news." I wrote this to you before and I hope you see this, so here goes. You are the head of the executive branch. You control the functions of each department and agency throughout the bloated federal government thereby giving you much authority. Do you realize that you could probably balance the federal budget just by slowing down or stopping the spending in these departments and agencies on wasteful and unnecessary programs which are in complete opposition to your goals of MAGA. Don't let up. Keep the pressure on. The liberal media portrays your administration as in disarray and not in touch with the American people. But we know their bias. Don't get discouraged and don't throw in the towel. Instead hit them harder now that you see how leftist political pals operate. Obama was the anti-Christ with his Muslim loving cronies, including McMaster. You are the savior of the United States because please note that God founder this country and God prevented Clinton from becoming President. Therefore you have the responsibility to infiltrate the government with similar minded alt-right, pro family, pro USA patriots so that this country can survive for another 100 years or more. MAGA.

Isn’t it amazing to see how one incident related to sexual deviance can create a worldwide phenomenon? Harvey Weinstein opened Pandora’s Box! (That’s a horrible one liner, especially taken out of context.) When women started reporting the gross behavior of Weinstein, the #metoo movement was born. Women from all walks of life, in all types of professions, came out the closet and spoke about how men in power have sexually mistreated them. These confessions have taken place in the news industry (Matt Lauer at NBC and Bill O’Reilly at Fox), politics (congressmen using tax dollars to settle sexual assault cases), charitable societies (Oxfam and even UN relief efforts in Syria), gambling industry (Stephen Wynn in Las Vegas), pro athletics (Jerry Richardson owner of the Carolina Panthers), the United States judiciary (Alex Kozinski Federal appeals court judge), entertainment industry (Dustin Hoffman and Steven Seagal), just to name a few. Bill Clinton and Donald Trump may have contributed to the phenomena. Even the Saudi King recently appointed Tamadar bint Yousef al-Ramah, a woman, to become the deputy minister of labor and social development, a rare occurrence in a Muslim country dominated by men. (I wonder what she had to contribute.) What does all this repressed and unreported sexual activity mean? We know that many men are sexually deviant animals. But sex does require two consenting adults. Are women to blame too? Granted all of these men were in authoritarian positions who had something to offer these women, other than sex. But it seems that these women quietly participated in these deviant male charades for years without a word. Did women acquiesce in this deviant sexual activity with an expectation of a return favor from the man in charge? Who is really to blame?

A piece was written recently about communication. The author concluded that people are losing the art of conversation because conversationalists are constantly being told that they must avoid the topics of politics and religion. What other topics can garner a good chat? These days, these two topics, especially politics, can raise the ire among people of opposing views. People cannot reasonably discuss these topics because everyone refuses to listen to an opinion other than their own. Society has drawn red lines, and for some inexplicable reason, anyone who speaks about a position which crosses their line is an immediate enemy. Disagreements boil to anger and sometimes violence. For example, the issue of gun control will always start an argument between the alt left and the alt right. The left accuses the actual “gun” for school shootings while the alt right accuses the actual gun owner. Reasonable people can’t have a rational conversation about this topic without shouting, particularly if they are on the opposite ends of the spectrum on the gun control issue. So people avoid the topics altogether to keep peace, and, in the process, lose the ability to converse at all. Society loses its ability to solve its problems when conversationalists lose the ability to converse. Instead, they make small talk about the kids or their golf game. (Remember the tarmac meeting of Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch.) Let's start talking again.

​Were you attacked by a Russian bot? Seems everyone was, even alt-left wacko Michael Moore. He began making alt-left movies several years ago, like Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko, to rally the radical Left and incense the Right. His motives have become clear in recent years. He is a pure hater for the alt-Left establishment spewing hate speech and fake news. But the Ruskies pulled a fast one on Mr. Moore and gave him a bit of his own medicine. It seems that he participated in a Nov. 12, 2016 “Trump is NOT my President” rally in New York that was orchestrated by Russian bots. What an imbecile, going to a rally orchestrated by the Ruskies just because the rally was anti Trump. Just goes to show that he believes in no particular cause, just the aggrandizement of his own idealized self-image as a hate filled turd. What a fake asshole living in his shithole world. Or does your charade establish the fact that you, Michael Moore, were colluding with the Russians? If it were not for your own blind ignorance, we would have to conclude that you are a Russian sympathizer.

​If the United States Senate remains Republican after the 2018 midterm elections and the House manages to hold on to their Republican majority, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell better dispense with the filibuster rule which requires 60 votes to pass legislation. The Democrats are holding the Senate hostage because the Republicans do not have the 60 votes needed to overcome the Democrats’ objections and to move legislation forward. The Republicans have had their hands tied because of this Democratic resistance in the Senate and this absurd filibuster rule. Our Republic was founded on majority rule, which means 50% plus one. Anything else defeats majority rule for the citizens of this country, who gave the two chambers their current majorities to Republicans. If Republicans maintain majorities in both chambers after the 2018 elections, they better take advantage of easy legislative victories. They will have control of the Executive and Legislative branches, but because of the filibuster in the Senate, they cannot achieve any legislative victories at present. McConnell doesn’t want to forgo the filibuster because he is afraid of what the Democrats will do if they ever regain control of the Senate. Senate control does not determine enactment of legislation however. He doesn’t seem to understand, that at this point in history, Republicans have a unique opportunity. The Democrats may never regain control of the House, Senate and the Presidency at the same time as the Republicans currently retain. Only a Democratic, complete sweep of the two chambers and the Presidency can undo what the Republicans can accomplish in the next two years if they retain the House and Senate this election cycle. A year ago at President Trump’s election would have been the perfect time for McConnell to have acted. 2018 will be wasted too. Now it may be too late if the Republicans lose the Senate in November. McConnell needs to abandon the filibuster rule in the Senate for any and all legislation and pass the Republican agenda. This agenda should include term limits (six terms for representatives and two terms for senators), a balanced budget amendment, a wall, immigration reform, Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid reform and repeal and replace of Obamacare, just to mention a few of the necessary reforms.

​Assumptions are not valid pieces of evidence. They usually make asses of you and me. But I must make some anyway in this case because I will never get the real truth. I can now understand the rage and disgust Martin Luther must have had for the Catholic Church in the early 1500’s because of its corruption. Corruption is still around today but in much subtler forms. I stayed up all night last night tossing and turning, wondering why would the Catholic Church remove me from their permanent diaconate program. I made good grades at Our Lady of the Lake College in our permanent diaconate studies. I go to church every Sunday. I love God and neighbor. So I kept piecing bits of pieces together of what went down yesterday. The following is what I assume happened. First, these are the known facts. I was called a couple of weeks ago to attend a meeting with Father Jamin, the priest in charge of deacon formation in the Baton Rouge dioceses. We are all humans and naturally I suspected bad things but I put a positive spin on the matter telling myself that they wanted me to help out somewhere. So when I arrived early for the meeting, I noticed Fr. Tom Ranzino was at the chancery. That would not necessarily be unusual since Rev. Tom Ranzino is vicar general for the dioceses. He is also parish priest for St Jean Vianney church. He passed by me the first time without acknowledging me but when he came through again, he looked at me with what I would describe as a devilish grin. (I assume he knew exactly what was going down, being the vicar general and all.) Next I saw my formation director enter the building, Dan Borne’, and we talked about my recent trip to Rome. You must realize that I was never told what this meeting was about or who was going to attend the meeting. So after a few minutes, Father Jamin came and got me from the waiting room and brought me into this room occupied by John Veron, a permanent deacon in charge of the program, deacon Dan Borne’, Father Jamin and another older gentlemen who I do not remember his name. Father Jamin began the meeting by stating that they had decided to ask me to leave the permanent diaconate program. I immediately asked them for their reasons. Father Jamin said there were several, one being that he was not impressed with my answers to the annual assessment questions. Here are the two questions and answers he raised specifically: “Describe the distinctive role and mission of the laity in the Church and world using your own words. The role of the laity should be the encouragement and formation of their neighbors yet I see that most are distant and confused about their purpose in the church. Most do not know scripture and they could care less that they know so little. Freedom from sin and salvation of souls should be the primary role yet familiarity and use of the sacraments may have to suffice. Is your vision of the Church and the Diaconate shaped and formed by the documents of Vatican II and subsequent ecclesiastical documents? In what ways? No, my vision of the church is shaped by the early documents of the church like the Didache, apostolic constitution and the writings of the church fathers.” He stated the second answer failed to mention the significance of Vatican II reestablishing the position of the permanent deacon in the Catholic Church. After telling me that many Catholics are well versed in the bible, then he stated that I was now a part of that laity. Other reasons given were the fact that I failed to find a new spiritual director after my first year in the program. My first spiritual director was an old retired priest who was very nice and extremely intelligent. But we seemed to have gotten off to a bad start from day one. When I arrived at his house for our first meeting, I immediately detected his surprise that I was not the Kent Mayeux who he knew and with whom he had attended a mission trip. But we persevered and I assumed that we would continue our monthly meetings for the second year. When time came, I called him and he stated that he would not be available for the second year. Classes started and I failed to recruit a new spiritual director for the whole second year. Also mentioned was the fact that my recommendation letter to the program was not from a priest but from a deacon. Another reason was that I had not shown a sufficient intension of service within the Catholic Church. I have been singing in the choir since before 1998 when the new church at St. Jean Vianney was built. I continued to sing at MBS and St Jude. We sang every Sunday and extra holiday Masses and practiced every Wednesday night. But the reason which was most stressed at the meeting was the issue of my writings, writings made public in self-published books and on my blog. The most significant issue was my mention that baptism after the death of Christ may no longer obviate original sin since Christ’s death achieved that for us. For which sins did Christ die I asked, original, personal or both. Once forgiven, we are always forgiven I argued. First, know that I wrote these statements before I entered the diaconate program. Second, we all know that the Catholic Church teaches that we are born with original sin, even those of us born after the death and resurrection of Christ and we must be baptized to dispense with that sin and then we become members of the church. This last statement was expressed in my book. But this issue is still a legitimate question for which I have still not found a sufficient explanation. Also mentioned was my apologetic quip that Protestants cannot be saved. I now know that anyone can be saved, even the Muslim terrorist. And now comes the assumptions. But before I make assumptions, I have to give some back ground. I attended Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church (MBS) for years and I sang in the choir. Father Mike Collins, a most blessed soul and now recently deceased, was the pastor. His deacon, Don Musso, wrote the letter of recommendation for me to enter the diaconate. We sold our home that was a mile from MBS and bought a house near St Jude the Apostle Catholic Church. Father Mike, then retired, was living with the pastor of St Jude, Father Trey Nelson. So we decided to attend St Jude, which was our parish church and since we could still attend Mass with Father Mike who was helping with Masses. I began singing in the choir at St Jude. One Sunday at a Mass at St Jude, I noticed one of my homosexual, married neighbors who lived two door down from me in our new neighborhood, acting as a Eucharistic minister. He and his “spouse” would attend Mass together, kiss during Mass to express a sign of peace and then he would proceed to the altar to dispense the Eucharist as a minister. I was now in deacon school and had concerns with such behavior being allowed by Pastor Nelson. Being naïve as I am and instead of speaking with Pastor Nelson first, I wrote a letter to the Bishop explaining what was happening at St Jude. I received a written response from Rev. Tom Ranzino, the vicar general for the dioceses, saying that I should speak to Pastor Nelson. So I called Father Nelson and we set a meeting. When I arrived, I noticed a tension in the air as I checked in with the secretary. After a few minutes wait, he sat me down in his office and began lecturing me about the need to love our neighbor and the chain of command in the Catholic Church. I immediately knew this was not going to be a pleasant meeting because of his displayed anger and malice directed toward me. He made a comment that I should not have gone directly to the bishop but spoken with him first. I apologized for my actions but that was not received well. He commented on the fact that I was in deacon school and that he did not write my letter of recommendation. He very clearly implied that I should not be in deacon school and that he had friends in high places. I was very cordial and pressed him on the issue of the meeting without any response. The openly married homosexual continued to dispense the Eucharist during Mass after our meeting. So I decided to write Archbishop Gregory Aymond in New Orleans about the issue. He wrote back directing me to Bishop Muench. I responded back to Archbishop Aymond’s letter and I carbon copied my letter to Pope Francis and the Chairman of USCCB. Here is the text of my letter. ”Thanks for your response regarding the theological and pastoral issue regarding Eucharistic ministers. Your letter suggests that I speak to Bishop Robert Muench and Father Trey Nelson. I have contacted Bishop Muench by letter and Father Trey in person without any formal decision. This situation however, an openly married homosexual dispensing communion, still exists in our Church. I have attached bible verses, pages 6-7 of the Pastoral Guidelines for Implementing Amoris Laetitia by Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archdiocese of Philadelphia and a response to a question I posited to a cannon law lawyer on cannonlawmadeeasy.com. These documents clearly state that homosexuals are not allowed to become extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. This situation creates a scandal in the church. This situation portrays to our congregation, and to any other congregation that allows this, an acceptance by the Catholic Church of gay marriage. We love our gay brothers but not to the detriment of the whole congregation, especially to the detriment of our vulnerable children. After this couple kisses as a sign of peace, the congregation sees this gay man approach the altar and dispense Holy Communion. I find this situation objectionable and despicable. He should not be offered the sacrament, much less dispense it. Will the Church’s capitulation on this issue eventually lead to the Church performing gay marriages? Please provide your sheep with some much needed guidance.” I never heard anything again from Archbishop Aymond, Pope Francis or the USCCB. We stopped attending St Jude church and now attend another Catholic Church outside of our parish. I can only assume that the homosexual stopped dispensing communion at St Jude, because they have since sold their home in our neighborhood and moved to another civil parish within our diocese. One can find the very well written response to my question by the cannon lawyer on her website, cannonlawmadeeasy.com under “Who is qualified to become an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion? Posted on August 18, 2016 by Cathy Caridi.” These are the background facts. And finally the assumptions. You may be able to make them yourself after reading this blog post but here goes. I can only assume that I was kicked out of the diaconate program for “political” reasons. I assume that Father Trey Nelson put pressure on his friend, the most Rev. Tom Ranzino, to get rid of me. Rev. Ranzino seems to be running the dioceses because Bishop Muench will soon be writing his request to retire. And if by coincidence, my own formation director, Dan Borne, is the deacon at St Jean Vianney, where Father Ranzino is pastor. I know that Deacon Borne was the facilitator of the process of removal by openly expressing my thoughts on baptism to Father Jamin. I can only assume that he began pushing the idea of removing me through the prodding or command of Ranzino. I cannot assume that Borne or even Father Jamin had evil intentions because they seem to be very good men. I must assume that Nelson and Ranzino had evil intentions. All of these assumptions may be a figment of my depraved imagination. Maybe I was just not deacon material and they simply carried out the will of God. I like this last explanation the best since I know that revenge is for God alone. I am not knocking the Catholic Church. Hell, they probably would not have been able to make a good deacon out of me anyway. I am too outspoken and still a sinner. But know this, I am 100% convinced that the Catholic Church is the real church that Jesus established 2000 years ago. I have no doubts or assumptions about that question. My visit to Rome confirmed that fact. The thing I am most perturbed about is the politics within the church and the attempt by some to protect homosexuals and even encourage homosexuality. When you put humans in charge of divine things, what can you expect but human results? If these clowns were in charge when St Augustine was writing and if the internet was available then, they would have probably kicked Augustine out of the church for condemning people and the many times he changed his mind about theological issues. I am not angry with anyone. I love my neighbors. I was just so excited that I, a reformed sinner, would be given a chance to tell others about the saving nature of God’s grace. Being a deacon was not God’s will for me. An ordained deacon must devote considerable time in the service of God’s people within his assigned parish, time which is diverted from family. I must find another outlet to express the insight and the fire in my heart that God has given me. God bless.